Thread guide



F. Pf TAMBURRQ THREAD GUIDE Filed NOV. 6, 1943 Sept'lO, 1946.

BMM@ .ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 10,V 1946 ice THREAD GUIDE Francis P. Tamburro, Ozone Park, N. Y., assigner vto Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company,

New York, N a'corpor'aton of New York Y Application November 6, 1943, Serial N0, 509,2.Q8f

This invention relates to sewing machines, and more particularly to improved means for guiding lthe thread as it advances along an angular path toward theneedle. f

An obiect of this invention is to provide a Y 'Claims. (Cl. i12-218) v machine frame and having a plurality of ngers which project from it obliquely and which are bent or rolled over toward the plate to lie over the` surface of the plate and form skewed loops. The ends of the fingers overlap, without touching, the edge of the plate and the base of the adjacent finger, thus forming eyes having slanting openings through which the stretches of threads may be passed. Thus, with the thread guide of the present invention, it is not necessary to use closed loops or eyes through which the thread must be passed end-nrst.

In using the thread guide of the present invention, the plate is so mounted that the lingers slant away from the direction in which the thread is to be turned.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates one form of this invention, that at present preferred Figure 1 is a front view showing the thread guide of the present invention located between the needle thread take-up member and the needle thread lower guide from which the thread passes to the needle bar.

Fig. 2 is a partial transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, showing the angular path of the thread when viewed from the side, and showing the relationship of the thread guide of the present invention to the needle thread lower guide and the needle thread take-up mechanism.

Fig, 3 is a. front view of the thread guide plate of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a transverse View of the thread guide.

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the thread gude.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank of the thread guide before the slanting ngers are bent back upon the plate.

In sewing machines the guiding of the thread to the needle b ar is a comparatively simple matter where the path 0i the thread'forms such an ansie that the guiding means may. be placed on the inside of the angle, for in such situations it is merely necessary .to provide Slots, in a plate into which the thread may be slid so as to rest at the bottom of the slot.` In situations where the thread forms an ansie and it 'is'notr convenient to'place the gliding means., on the insidecf. the4 angle, the matter of. guiding the threadhas been a serious problem Thread guides for-such portions of the path of the threadA may, of course, consist oi Closed loops or eyes, but in such cases it is neces-V sary to pass the end ofthe tlfiread through 'the eye. .1

In a multineedle machine, besides being inconvenient, the closed eye guiding means is rather expensive to make, since `each eyerrnust bernade separately and be separately fastened to a plate. Anothersolution of the problem is to provide a guide having spring-closed openings through which the thread may be forced, and, when once placed in the guide, is prevented from pulling out by the spring. But, this kind of guide is quite expensive to make, and since it involves moving parts is liable to get out of order.

As will appear below, the present invention provides a simple and economically made plate which embodies the advantages of closed eyes and yet which may be threaded without manipulating the end of the thread, does not have any moving parts, and securely holds the thread from escaping its control.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the thread guide I0 of the present invention cornprises a plate I I having a mounting hole I2 adapted to receive a screw I3 and a locating hole I4 adapted to receive a pin I5 xed on a hat I6 on the machine frame I'I. The plate I I is blanked out from a piece of sheet metal so as to have the shape shown in Fig. 6. The blank is made so as to have'a plurality of fingers I8 extending obliquely with relation to the longitudinal edge I9 of the plate. The blank II is then worked so that the ngers I8 are bent as a group on an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the plate so that each finger has a hook portion 20,` skewed so that the end of each overlies the plate I I, and when viewed in plan overlies the base 2I of the adjacent finger. The end finger I8 overlies a projection 22 on the end of the plate.

When the thread guide of the present invention is mounted on the outside of the path of the thread as shown in Fig. 2, the threads are `erating iinger I8.

Vthe thread rides, the ngers I8 are swedged to Y' side, and since there is no tendency for the thread:

to have this compound movement it is trapped against escaping from between the lingers.l Y Y In a situation in which the plate Il) is used in the form of the inventionv illustrated in "the accompanying drawing, the threads 23 (see Fig.

2) pass over tensioning devices 244, thenthrough an upper guide 25, and downwardly in front of the needle thread take-up members 26, through guide I0 of the present invention and then laterally to -the lower needle thread guidev 21, and ,finally to the bar 28. To pass the thread over the guide plate IIJ, it is merely necessary to piace the loop of the thread formed between the guide 25 and the guide 21 over V'the end of its coop- The thread when tautened will then ride up on the hook 20. and be confined in the loop of the hook, for the linger .is skewed in a direction normal tothe path of 'the thread.

1.0; vplate and forming thread eyes having slanting walls of the spaces between the fingers are polished before the lingers are bent.

Variations and Amodifications may be` made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. YA thread guide comprisinga plate having a plurality of inclined ngers projecting from one edge thereof, said fingers being bent out of the plane of the plate and skewed toward the thread receiving openings between them.

2. A thread guide comprising a plate having va plurality of integral inclined iingers project- The needle guide of the present invention is formed Ain the thread as the take-up elements move away from the part'of the thread ibetween ,i

the guide 25 and the guide Ill, it will not slip oi the hook finger Il!` because of the fact that the latter is skewed away from the path of the thread.

In order to provide smooth edges over which remove sharp corners as shown in Fig. 6 and the ingfrom one edge thereof, said fingers being bent out of the plane. of the plate and skewed toward the plate and forming thread eyes having slanting thread receiving openings between them, the edges of the fingers being rounded off to provide a smooth guide surface for the thread. Y

3. Athread guide comprising ja plate having a plurality of inclined ngers projecting from one edge thereof, lsaid ngers being bent out ofthe plane. of the plate and extending in a loo'p toward the plate and forming slantingly open eyes.

.4. A thread guide for controlling the angular path of a plurality of threads and located outside the angle of saidpath comprising a plurality of hooks skewedso that the end of one hook overlies in spaced relation the base of another hook;

5. A thread guide comprising a plate stampedl out of sheet metal to form a plurality of obliquely disposed lingers along one end of the plate, said Y fingers being bent out of the plane o f the plate and back towardthe plate to form a .plurality of hooks skewed to present guiding edges normal to theA direction of travel of the threads. l

l FRANCIS P. TAMBURRO 

